Ready for mid April

Dale and I went to the VCU game two Sundays ago and watched them lose to ODU in OT. It was hard to watch them lose as I'm really not used to watching them lose. We had a good time though. We upgraded our seats again and sat in the lower bowl by the pep band again. /basketball season
Work has picked up due to the nice weather, people going outside to do yard work and then call to complain about their lawn/shrubs or wonder why we haven't been out since we normally come out in February. Apparently people don't remember the foot of snow on the ground in February and must think that they are the only customer that we have. Plus we're under-staffed and can't keep appointments. And my hours changed again to 10-7. Come on mid-April! /rant

Last week I started getting a sinus infection (due to the nice weather mentioned above). I decided to try a neti pot for the first time. As gross as it is, it worked. My sinus infection/pressure was lessened and it never moved into my chest, so I didn't have a week's worth of coughing like I did last time. So by Thursday of this week, I could taste my food again and breathe without constantly blowing my nose. /nasty

Last weekend since I was sick we didn't do much of anything. I even asked B to accompany me for grocery shopping. He did and we got home in time to watch the Blackhawks/Caps game on NBC. Since there was no NASCAR, I fell asleep watching hockey with the Caps in a 3 point deficit and woke up in OT and a minute later the Caps won the game. /Nap Time PerfectionThis weekend we dropped off B's truck at the new Firestone near my house for a state inspection. The Durango needed 3 new tires and new wiper blades. We bought 4 tires and the blades and almost $700 later we picked up the truck. There went the rest of B's OT money. And I'm pretty sure that we're going to end up owing both the feds and state taxes. *sigh* /money woes.

I'm almost done with the hallway wall. The damn wall that I've been fighting since August 09. This morning it looked like this:

This evening it looks like this:

I am SO very excited about this. At first the contact paper had us stumped. Then we thought we had its number, but it showed us. Then my cousin came over and gave a suggestion that worked quite well and even let us borrow his power sander to make it happen. Tomorrow night that wall will finally match the kitchen and the rest of the hallway. /giddiness
5.5 months until Buffett! Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

The week plus some

Dale and I went to the CAA basketball tournament today. We watched ODU crush Towson and then watched VCU vs GMU. VCU won! Good times. We upgraded our seats for the 2nd half for the VCU game. The lady behind us for the 1st half was so negative. I think she was for VCU, but I couldn't tell from the way she was bad-mouthing everyone. It must be horrible to watch a game like that. We moved and sat in a VCU section downstairs where even when one of the guys fouled out of the game the girls behind me were "It's ok we still love you". THAT's the type of fan I am too...I felt more at home downstairs. We were closer to the Pep Band too, which is always nice :-) After the game I met my hubby, Mom and K at Grandpa Eddie's for dinner. It better than Brock's or Sibley's IMHO. I got the brisket which was good, but I didn't care for their BBQ sauce. Their peanut butter pie was really yummy though.
This past Wednesday the Region VP, Division Commercial Mgr and Division VP came to visit work. That went well to the best of my knowledge. The DVP is a really nice personable guy and wouldn't mind seeing him again. I didn't really talk to the DCM and we see the RVP on a semi-regular basis already. The branch is about 90% rebranded due to the DVP visit. The customer calls will start heading to the call center in Mid April (silent Hooray!) and we'll be getting the hand held devices for the specialists within the month.
I went to DMV this morning to renew my baby truck's registration. I spent a total 15mins in DMV. That was awesome :) I get my old plates back. Hooray!! I can't stand my current plates because I misspelled something (backwards) so I took my old plates with me and they let me keep those and I'll be getting my new sparkley (correctly spelled) plates within the month. In related news, on the way to the VCU game there was a checkpoint on Hopkins Rd. That was not even 3 hours after being at DMV. So. Happy.
6 months to Buffett! Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Ready for Spring

I had to change the background of this blog from penguins to spring flowers.
The Capitals game has been postponed. I can't find any decently priced tickets. So stupid! In other news, I did find some decently priced Jimmy Buffett tickets. Byron, Suz, Mike and I will be going to the Labor Day weekend show in NoVa!!! So. Freaking. Excited. I got the tickets from StubHub and they arrived on Friday. Friday night I promptly bought stuff for tailgating and shirts to wear. Yep. I'm ready.
Two Fridays ago Melissa, Crystal, Chris, Doc, Jesse, Amanda and I went to Shamrock's for drinks and karaoke. Melissa got more than drunk...if that's possible. She doesn't remember anything past singing her last song (well...if you call that singing). Jesse carried her to my truck and Chris followed me to take her home to carry her in the house. Well, we got within eyeshot of her house and her body decides that's the perfect time to be sick...in my truck. Ewwww. We got her in the house and the Chris had to drive my truck (I drove his work van) to a car wash place to clean up my baby. We got that done while it was snowing and then went our separate ways. I went home and played on the computer until I couldn't stay awake.
Last Saturday Crystal came over and we had pizza, watched movies and drank until Crystal couldn't remember. I kept up with her shot for shot (we drank a bottle and a half of tequila...14 shots each). I guess I just can't get "blackout" drunk. Not that I was trying, but I've never been so drunk that I've forgotten chunks of time...it might be fuzzy though. Oh and I don't have hangovers either, but boy was my stomach and liver pissed off at me for a couple of days.
Work is changing. Ch-ch-ch-changes! They're coming hard and fast now. The Division VP is coming this week and our GM has lost his mind. And I think I've gone there with him. I forgot a route for one of the guys for Saturday this week. I didn't know he was back from his accident earlier in the week until after I had scheduled Saturday's work and forgot to go back and schedule a route for him. Not too bad, just a route right? Well, on Friday at 7am I have a missed call and VM. I check (at 8:45 when I'm ready to walk out the door) and it's my boss saying that two people didn't have routes. One wasn't really my fault because I was told that the guy wasn't going to be going out on a route and the other hadn't worked all week but the day before and had taken a route that was from a guy that called out sick. I didn't get in much trouble for that one, but two days in a row? I pray that I got everyone routes for Monday...I'll find out tomorrow morning. Oh some of the changes I mentioned was that the branch got a bit of a face lift on the inside. Some fresh paint, new tracking boards and new signage & posters. It looks 70% better. The carpet really needs to be replaced, but that's not going to happen soon and we're not quite done putting up posters and the warehouse face lift hasn't been started to my knowledge. And we're going to handheld devices for the routing. It'll make my job a bit easier once the transition has taken place. They aren't allowing my boss to replace Sharon since that person won't have a job past June (maybe sooner) when the customer calls start going to a call center. But for now, that still leaves me as the main phone person and trying to dispatch....maybe that's why I'm forgetting routes? Too much multi-tasking. Nope, that can't be it. No excuses and just own it.
I went to a VCU basketball game this week with Dale. That was good times, but the last home game of the season. We might go to the CAA tourney depending on where they seed and the weather. 
Today I took Lilly to Petco's Salon to get some Shed Less grooming. While waiting for her appointment to be done, I went to Dad's house and had lunch with him and Dale. Then I taught Dad some features about Facebook since he joined last weekend. I went and picked up the best smelling Lilly ever and she's very fluffy even though she has much less fur than when I dropped her off there. They say she did well. I saw a Lab in a muzzle getting its nails clipped and I had to wonder what they'll tell his owners if they ask. I know she's good for me, but is cautious around people she doesn't know. Anyhow, I dropped off Lilly at home and went to Barnes & Noble and picked up Melissa (after getting a couple of books) and went to Ross to get her something to wear to a wedding. After getting that we went to Red Lobster for dinner. The chowder was good, the dinner was so-so but the biscuits were yummy as usual. Came home and am I'm listening to the last live concert of the Summerzcool tour on Radio Margaritaville.
They're calling for a big snow storm this week. I hope not. I am SO tired of sNOw.
6 months and 1 week until Buffett. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Yikes

It's like I forgot this thing existed. So three months later I'll play a little catchup.
Crystal, her mom, B and I went to the '09 Meadow Highland Games & Celtic Festival and here are the pictures. We had a really good time even though it was pretty chilly that day.
We went to Ocracoke for vacation with Mom and K. We had a good time. The week seemed to fly by though. We stayed in a different house this year and didn't really like the house and we'll be staying at the house next door. It's smaller, but it's nicer. When we went fishing on the charter boat, I caught 3 fish. A total of 6 were caught for the day and we were able to keep 5. They were Good Eats :) Here are the pics.
I got laid off from TG in December. I was out for three weeks. I baked and baked and baked during that time. I made 10 different types of cookies! I also made the entire Christmas Eve dinner from the turkey to the cornbread stuffing to the pumpkin pie.
Christmas was good. We went to my dad's house in the morning and then my mom's in the afternoon. B's mom was out of town. Pictures of the cookies and from Christmas are here.
It snowed in Richmond in December for the first time in FOREVER. Pics are here. Of course it did this on my birthday weekend and ruined all my plans with family and friends. So, instead of being with them, I had to stay in the house. We did finally get out on Sunday and go to lunch with my mom and K, but not where we had planned to go originally. We went by her house on the way home and picked up my awesome birthday present. I got a KitchenAid Artisan stand mixer. Words cannot explain how I feel for this machine:
I had to have a tooth removed the Monday after my birthday. That's always fun, but at least the dentist was professional, nice and handsome to boot! I have to go back for a root canal soon...boo!
I've been to two Norfolk hockey games, both with Crystal and once included B. The one where the three of us went, we stopped at the Cheeseburger in Paradise in Newport News on the way home and us girls got very drunk. That was the longest ride home, even when dozing. This past Saturday just Crystal and I went down to Norfolk. We had a good time, stayed sober and even went to Wild Rose Cafe for some karaoke before going home.
We've seen a few movies as well. The most recent are Alvin & The Chipmunks 2 with Crystal and Avatar with Crystal and Byron. Both were enjoyable and Avatar was visually stimulating.
Last weekend Dale and I went to a VCU basketball game and watched them win. We're going again on Wednesday and hopefully they'll repeat that win thing.
Well, that's not everything but it's a good overview. And until next time...keep your stick on the ice.

What a weekend!

Well, I didn't get done everything I wanted to do and lots of stuff I hadn't planned on doing. I did get to Ace, Home Depot and WalMart on Saturday morning, but didn't get home until 12noon. I needed to switch out our satellite receiver. I did that but it's no good either, so I'm still DVR-less. *sigh* The only thing I got done in the hallway was taping the doors, doorbell and a/c register.
There was no branch meeting on Friday. It's been rescheduled, but no one knows when. I got a call on Saturday morning that told me that my hours are being changed to 9-6 starting Tuesday. The sales crew is the reason I work so late and management changed their hours, so that means my hours change too. Hooray! I'm working "normal hours" again. Hopefully, this will last for the rest of the year. I'm only working 3 days this week. I took off Thursday/Friday because Thursday is B's and mine 4 year anniversary and sometimes we'll go do things around that date and want to make sure that's possible. But, this year I'm just off to head to take Lilly for her yearly shots/checkup and do my painting that I didn't get done this weekend.
We went to Norfolk for some hockey last night. It was good to see live hockey even if I didn't care about the teams either way. I did notice that Manchester had a guy named Hickey on their team, so that who I started to root for and of course they lost. We'll be going again in December for my birthday with again I team I don't care about, but then in January we'll go and see a team where I can root against Norfolk (as usual).
Today, Crystal came over and we cleared out the flower beds of dead/dying plants & ground cover. Byron replaced the rusted out mailbox and B & I replaced the doorbell button and cleaned out a closet that needed it and took most of that to the dump. We're finally doing stuff with the house that should have been taken care of when we moved in 4 years ago.
Only 20 days to my Outer Banks vacation :)
Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Just a week

We decided that since there's no hockey in Richmond and watching it on TV just isn't the same, we're headed to Norfolk on Saturday to see the Admirals play. But, we need to continue work on the house first. So that means I have to get up and get moving much earlier than I usually do on Saturdays. I need to get to Home Depot, Ace Hardware and Wal-Mart all before 11am.
I can't believe the names that they're coming up with for the new double-A Richmond baseball team. The Hambones, Flying Squirrels, Rhinos, Flatheads and Rock Hoppers. Then CNBC gets in the mix and adds Hush Puppies. The owners said that they don't want anything normal...well they're certainly not going to get it. Teams like the Mudbugs and Jackalopes (both minor league hockey) make more money on merchandise from out of towners than people that support the team locally, so I guess that's where they're trying to go with it.
Tomorrow is the branch meeting where we might get more info about the changes coming. My guess is there will be less talk about the changes and more about how much we suck and need to improve. Nothing unusual there though. Hopefully, it'll be short and I'll be able to still got my work done despite having this "break" in the day.
Byron has stated that now that he's gotten his promotion and raise he wants to start saving and take us to Austin, TX for our 5th year anniversary (one year and one week from today). If that's the case, then I need to lose weight in order to fly in a plane without having to buy two tickets. I've started to watch my portions and stop eating extra meals (by stopping at Mickey D's before heading home for dinner). Soon, I'll start exercising by walking. Then, I'll be able to buy a bicycle and be able to exercise two ways and still get the dog moving too.
Lilly gets her yearly shots next week. And we'll be checking on her head shaking as well. It hasn't been as bad as it was, but she's still shaking. Her ears are clean and I used the drying solution after I washed her last. I'm hoping it's something little or even nothing at all.
Only 23 days till my Outer Banks vacation :)
Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Changes are coming!

This week wasn't horrible for a change. Monday was a bit hectic as it was my first day back after four days on vacation. I felt appreciated when I came back. My direct boss was very happy to see me and now understands I'm not just circling dots to schedule work. Tuesday though Thursday the main boss was gone and we just worked and talked and had a few good days. Friday the main boss was back and all the managers went into a meeting before I got there and didn't come out for 90mins after I arrived. The main boss had gone out of town to a meeting to get the new direction of the company. (Backstory: The company I work for and its sister companies were bought out buy a private equity investment firm early last year and they're trying to make us grow so they can sell us.) There are some major changes coming to the company at the branch level. Changes have been happening for a while in the company, but that the corporate, division or regional level. Lots of middle management and admin is gone and our help desk was closed and is handled out of India now. Now, my direct boss is losing her title (and probably some money to go with it, but that's none of my business so I didn't ask) and there are LOTS of branch level changes coming. The good news is that since my branch was working with few customer service/admin people that we should all keep our jobs...at least for now.
Byron got a promotion and raise and both went into effect this week. He's finally considered full time and can start getting paid vacation and benefits (I think). He even has someone working under him. He's very happy...at least as happy as B gets.
Hockey season started this week. Unfortunately there is no hockey in RVA this year. I'm already going through live hockey withdrawals. I think we're going to Norfolk next weekend to get a fix. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Nothing much to say

I haven't been blogging because I'm lazy and nothing much has been going on lately.
The kitchen is still a mess, but it's painted now. I did most of the priming and then Crystal came over and helped with the actual painting of color on the walls. I think it looks good and am pleased. We also got a new rug for the living room. What we had was something that came with the house. It was a wall-to-wall rug that was falling apart in several places (no help from our four legged kids). It's a bit bold for what I usually do when decorating, but I like it.

Work is just that. I finally had some vacation time this week after not having any all year. I didn't win the big Mega Millions jackpot a few weeks ago, so next year I'm taking some days off in the summer to keep me from having a mental breakdown.
I'm working on starting my invitations for the Open House. I'm just getting the wording together so when I can buy the stationery I'm ready to print them. Most places are setting out their Christmas decorations already. I've gotten one or two things already. As much work as it's going to be to pull this off, I'm excited about it.
We went to the NASCAR race a few weekends ago. B was sick and he didn't go, but my mom, step-dad and I had a good time.
Chris and I went to the State Fair on opening day (Thursday). It was hot and humid, but we had a good time. We saw some dog stunts at the Extreme Canines Stunt Dog Show, played with Legos, petted some barnyard animals, played some games (and won), rode some rides and walked around the exhibit halls. Pictures are on my Flickr.
That's all for now...like I said not much going on here. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Good Bye June. Hello July.

I check some blogs every day or so (others, not as often), hoping to see a glimpse into what's going on my friend's, relatives or complete stranger's lives. Yet, I barely update my own. Like my friend, Carolyn said this past week on her blog, "I guess I love reading about everyone else's lives but I am less likely to share mine."
In June, we had a co-worker quit in a pretty irresponsible way. She called out on a Friday and didn't bother to show up on Monday, but had her girlfriend call in and say that she wasn't coming back to work. She had told Crystal that she had gotten another job. What a shitty way to quit a job! So, since she was the night-time CSR, that left us with no one to answer the phones at night. Enter me. I'm now working 11am-8pm. It totally sucks, but I'm trying to stay grateful that I even have a job.
I got back in touch with an old best friend from High School (and beyond) last month. She contacted me via Facebook. We mended our past and are speaking to each other again. And eventually our schedules with align and we'll be able to go out and do something together and catch up things.
June means my stepmom's birthday and Father's Day. We had my stepmom and Dad over to the house for both occasions and fixed lunch both times. Both times, they enjoyed food and some T.V. before heading back home. Having company over keeps my house clean and I've been trying to keep it that way. So far, so good.
B and I had a "stay-at-home and watch movies most of the weekend" in June. We watched Tropic Thunder, Pineapple Express, Run Fat Boy Run and Bully. PE and Bully were the worst two movies of the weekend. TT and RFBR were the best of the group.
On the amount of recent Hollywood deaths: Enough Already! I've officially heard enough about MJ and I haven't heard that much at all about it. I was really sad when I heard Billy Mays passed. I recently had begun to watch Pitchmen on Discovery and gotten to know the man and even some of his family. His son worked for/with him helping with commercials and they showed his current wife and little girl in a recent episode. He was certainly more than just some sleazy salesmen.
This weekend is Independence Weekend. B and I had off on Friday and boy was Friday busy for me. I got up early because Ukrop's was having a sale and I wanted to beat the stupid people there. I boiled 13 eggs before I left for my Dad's potlock dinner that night. I got to Ukrop's around 9am and there were no carts to be found! Luckily, I wasn't going to do my weekly shopping and was able to use one of their half-carts. I did $40 of shopping and only spent $14. With that $14 we got bread (2), soda (5), cheese (3), hot dogs (2), beans (4) and ice cream sandwiches (2). B's mom went also and got us soda (6). I think we're set on Pepsi products for a while. I went home and dropped off that load and went to WalMart for grocery shopping and to get some clothes for my nephew's 1st birthday. Came back and unloaded those and left to see My Sister's Keeper with Crystal. Nothing like a good cry to release some stress. I came back to fix the eggs, but had forgotten to put them in the fridge and they all went bad. I had to boil another 13 eggs. Luckily it was still a few hours before Dad's potluck and they had plenty of time to chill after making them into deviled eggs...or divine eggs as they were called that night. The potluck went well. Lots of good food and laughter.
Saturday, I cleaned up around the kitchen a little and cleaned Madison's box. Then we went to my nephew's 1st birthday party. My brother and SIL did a nice job. It was jungle themed party. They had a kiddie pool shaped like a gator, a sprinkler shaped like an elephant and a giraffe who's neck made a semi-circle for the kids to walk/crawl under to get wet and they had an inflatable monkey and parrot in the trees as decorations. I have pictures, but haven't downloaded them to the computer because my dad has my camera bag which has my USB cable. We had to leave the party early to go feed the girls before heading to B's mom's house for dinner. After spending some time with her and gathering up the sodas and other stuff she bought us we headed home. My mom and K were coming over to watch the Chesterfield County fireworks from our back deck. We made space on the back porch for everyone to sit and watch. And I just want to say that I have the most amazing dog. She sat in B's lap and watched the fireworks with her ears perked. She only barked once and that while we were inside and everyone was moving outside because he had heard the first boom. The other dogs around us were barking up a storm and Lilly was the perfect lady. The fireworks were pretty even though we could barely see some of them because our trees have grown over the past two years. All and all a very busy two days. Now I'm off to start my more peaceful Sunday. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Date Night?

Howdy all! The Monday 4/6 B hurt his back before he left for work and was out all week :( He went to the doctor and they gave him some exercises to do and some pain meds. He went back to work the next Monday and all is well now. Easter was good. I went to church and then later we went to B's sister's house for dinner. This past Saturday, I worked and then laid around waiting for it to be time to go out again. Chris and I went and hung out Saturday night. We went to see "State of Play", had dinner at Capital Ale House and then went bowling. "State of Play" was pretty good. It was the best choice out of everything that is out at the moment. I'm not a big Ben Affleck fan, but he did well in this. Capital Ale House was wonderful. Even though I was fighting a sinus infection and my taste wasn't 100% the food and the beer was amazing. We had a very good waiter, Jay who did a good job of picking out what beer went with the meal and waiting on us. I had crab-stuffed Virginia rockfish and Chris had the steak. Both were outstanding. I love Capital Ale House and wish I could afford to go there more often. We had a good time. I'm glad that we remained friends and that my hubby loves me and trusts me to go out with an ex. Sunday was a lazy day and we did a bunch of nothing after going grocery shopping. This week has gone by not quite quickly, but not slow either. I'm getting actual work done without drowning in the stuff I can let slide for a few days.
One last thing ~ I have Richmond NASCAR tickets for sale. There are three of them, but we are willing to sell just two if that's all you need. They are face valued at $90, but are asking $45/ticket for them. They are in the Henrico Tower which is at the beginning of Turn 3. The race is Saturday May 2, 2009 at 7pm. If you, or someone you know is interested, please email me: bandsburger (AT) verizon (dot) com

No more hockey and sick kitty

It's update time again. Hockey for Hope 5 was good. I worked the merchandise table with one other lady and in the time period that we were there we made over $600 in merchandise. I don't know the final tally for the money made that day, but it had to be good. We went to Capital Ale House on Main St afterward with the rest of the gang. I love their food. The pretzels are always so good. We left there and headed back to the Coliseum to watch the end of the Richmond Legends game and the last Richmond Renegades game of the season, year...forever. They announced later that the team would not be back next season. So now Richmond has lost baseball and hockey in a matter of a year. All we have left is NASCAR, the Kickers and college teams. Sad :(
Last Saturday was my job's sell-a-thon. Luckily, I have some of the fastest fingers in the branch and I get to enter all the sales instead of trying to make them. The time went by quickly. Afterward, Crystal and I headed to Wal-Mart to do our grocery shopping. Sunday, B and I were busy. We spent the last of my gift card to Moe's for lunch, we headed to Casual Male XL to get B some clearance work shirts and a belt, went to Hayne's to look at carpet and promptly left, went to Home Depot and found some remnant roll out linoleum, pulled up the cat-stained carpet and took it to the dump and rolled out the linoleum. All in all a busy and productive day.
Since laying down the linoleum, Madison is using her box more often. I got up early (5:30am) Saturday to take Madison to our vet. They put out their "first come, first serve" list at 7am and they open at 8am....we got there at 6:45am and were 5th on the list. We were done and gone by 9am. The vet is not quite sure what the exact problem is. It's not worms, but there is definitely a bacteria overgrowth. So now I get to inject some medicine orally for the next week. I had to go and buy a syringe because the vet didn't get me one. Funny enough I used my FSA card to buy it. Last year I bought the dog motion sickness pills (to calm her for the long drive to NC) with the card. My entire family benefits from that card :) Hopefully this will work and I'll have a completely healthy kitty.

So much

Hello All! I hope this finds you well. I volunteered with BARK at Strange's Florist's Dog Days in the Garden. What a good time that was! I got to spend some time with and show off some adoptable doggies. I wasn't well a few weekends ago as I caught a stomach virus from Crystal and spent most of the day Sunday either in the bathroom or in the bed. The next day it snowed a few inches, I called in sick cause I was running a fever and B didn't have to work because Ft. Lee closed. So, he took me to Patient First since my doctor was closed due to the snow. I was told it was the stomach virus and to drink fluids for 24 hours and then slowly work my way back to normal foods. I had never had so much flat Sierra Mist and Jell-O in a 48 hour period. I was back to normal foods by Friday. Last Saturday and Sunday, my stepmom and I went to see VCU play in the CAA basketball tournament. My Flickr pics for those two days can be found here. This week at work was the busiest we've been all season as the weather went from several inches of snow to 70-80 degree weather and the Spring weeds have popped. Wednesday and Thursday were the worst days because I had to enter sales which is usually done at night but Crystal was so busy that she didn't have time to do that. Friday wasn't so bad because she had time to enter some of them and my boss helped by doing some other data entry that I usually do in the morning. Plus it was raining/snowing and that usually slows down the amount of phone calls. Friday night was a Renegades hockey game. We left early cause we were tired, they were losing badly and the people behind us were obnoxious. Yesterday, B and I went to see Watchmen on one of the movie gift cards that my dad gave us for Christmas. Just about every preview we got was something we're going to see while they are still in theaters. Public Enemies with Christain Bale and Johnny Depp, Terminator: Salvation with Christain Bale, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, X-Men Origins: Wolverine with Hugh Jackman and the one that we'll wait and Netflix it is Observe and Report with Seth Rogan. I like Seth (who looks much better with his curly hair), but I can't see shelling out the money to see this one on the big screen. Today we're going to a Sunday afternoon hockey game and home to watch some TV and relax before heading back to work on Monday. Next Saturday (3/21) is the RHFC's Hockey for Hope 5 at the Richmond Coliseum. The game starts at 2pm and admission is a donation of your choice. I'll be running the RHFC merchandise stand, so if you can make it please stop by and say hi (and buy a shirt, puck or patch!). Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Weekend Update

New Year's Day I went to Dad's house for dinner and watch football. Friday at work the computers were brought down for the year end process at noon and that takes 6-8 hours. I was supposed to be there until 6pm, but my boss let me leaves at 5:30. We watched the movie "Be Kind Rewind". I wasn't impressed, which is sad cause I like Jack Black. Oh well. Saturday we didn't get up until after 10am and decided on Moe's for lunch. After Moe's we went to Target to use my gift card. I need a new purse probably about a year ago, but a couple a months ago the shoulder strap broke and couldn't be repaired. I found one that was on clearance that was still pretty small but would hold my meds, iPod, wallet and still have room. B found a 09 calendar in the "Dollar Spot" so I can be reminded of Lilly's heartworm meds. We then looked at the bed linens getting ideas for the guest bedroom when we put that together. It's gonna be my "purple room" as hubby calls it. We went to PetCo and bought the girls toys that we weren't able to buy during the Christmas season. We got home and took down Christmas decorations, had dinner and went to the Renegades game. I went to my season seat and there were people in my and hubby's seats as well as some surrounding. Had it just been two people I would have asked them to move myself, but there was eight of them. I had the security lady go down with my ticket and move them for me. Funny thing about that was I knew 3 of the people in the group as I went to high school with them. I was in JROTC with one of them. I'm pretty sure they didn't recognize me. I contacted the JROTC one via facebook and confirmed that he didn't recognize me right away. The game was good. By 12 seconds into the game there had been four fights. After that, they settled down and was up 2-0 halfway through the first. They ended up winning in a shootout. We came home and crashed. Sunday I got up and headed to WalMart and grocery shopped. I got there around 10am and it was a bit more crowded than last time and there was one crying kid. I had a gift card from my aunt, so I was able to buy a little less frugal than I have been and got some of those blue "hideous" reuseable bags. I'm tired of those damn plastic bags in my house and forgetting to take them back to be recycled. Hopefully I can remember to take them with me. I came home, had lunch and cleaned up the house a little...still a long way to go. We went to the afternoon hockey game...that was a really bad game. Everything about the team was off yesterday. They lost 7-3. We wouldn't have stayed till the end of the game if I hadn't been playing Monopoly on my iPod. We came home and watched TV the rest of the night. I start working 12noon-9pm today through at least the end of January. I'm missing my day hours already. Hopefully the night time girl will be brought back from layoff sooner than later and this won't go past January. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Yikes!

Well, since it's been almost 2 months since my last post I'm only going to do a short catchup:

• B's still out of a job. He starts a temp job on 1/5/09 if nothing else comes up before then.
• We went on vacation with my mom and stepdad to Ocracoke, NC. Pics are here.
• A new President was elected and I can't say I'm pleased. I guess we'll just have to wait and see.
• I went to my PCP for a checkup and my blood pressure was normal for the first time in a year! My blood tests came back OK...I need to work on my cholesterol and that's it.
• I had a sinus infection for about 10 days and was miserable the entire time.
• Thanksgiving was at my house for my mom, step dad, his mom and B's mom. Food was good, but stepdad's mom is not in good health and had some issues I'm not going to disgust everyone with here.
• Crystal's birthday party was good. Some pics are here. I sang karaoke for the first time that night and sang three songs with Crystal. We had fun and managed to Crystal as drunk as I have ever seen her.
• My step dad was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy in the beginning of December. Mom and I think it's the stress of his mom's health that is part of the issue there, that and his 14-hour work schedule.
• We've been to several hockey games. Took Crystal to one game and we've been to the rest on our own.

My company's Holiday meeting/party was last Friday and there was nothing special about it this year. The awards went to some deserving folks and some not so deserving folks. No, I didn't win anything, but I didn't think I would since I just drone through the day. We went to a Latino restaurant afterward for what I call "generic Mexican". There was nothing special about it at all and I much prefer my normal Mexican joint. But, it was a half-day of work and free food.
Yesterday I volunteered for BARK at a microchip clinic. If you're interested in getting your pooch chipped at the next clinic, let me know and I'll let you know when the next one will be held. The clinic was fun. I got to play with different kinds of pups and only one made a fuss when the chip was inserted.
Next weekend we're taking Lilly to go see Santa Paws at Petsmart. And it's also my neice's 2nd birthday party on Saturday. Then Sunday is a hockey game. Until I actually update again, which will hopefully be before my bday on 12/19, keep your stick on the ice.

Meh

I haven't really felt like blogging and I still don't. B doesn't have a job at the moment and borrowing money from family has gotten old. We're in the hole big time and will take forever to get out now. He'll have a temp job for a few weeks and then nothing for a few weeks. I'm tired of it and I'm tired "doing nothing because we can't afford it". I know he feels horrible and I'm trying to be as strong as possible. I was planning on getting second job and then on Thursday my boss informs me that my hours are being changed until the end of the aeration/seeding season (sometime in November). My hours are now 10am-7pm. That kinda ruins any chance of me getting a second job. I was planning on getting one this year anyways because of Christmas, but no can do now...not until November anyways.
Speaking of November, my vacation is in November and is less than a month away. My mom goes to a conference on Ocracoke Island, NC and pays for a house for the week and we go down and spend time together as a family. This year will be Lilly's first year going to Ocracoke. I'm looking forward to not having to do anything for a week and getting to fish on a chartered boat.
Sometime before November, Lilly needs most of her yearly shots. I'm in need of a cheaper vet than Banfield. At about $20/shot and a $30 office visit fee we can't afford to take her. Anyone go to a vet that offers the above for a more reasonable price?
Last weekend I cleaned up my kitchen a little. I cleaned the microwave cart out and got rid of stuff we don't use or had multiples (read-gave to Goodwill). Also opened a few old Christmas presents and that meant I needed to get rid of our old flatware and pots & pans. It was nice to get some new stuff in the house, even if it has been there for almost a year (or more). I still have a new set of plates and glasses to unfurl. And I need to clean off the top of Lilly's crate that still has some kitchen Christmas presents on it. After that is to clean the Tupperware cabinet (again) and then work on the living room and kitchen. I'm hoping to have an Open House at Christmas and that means that the entire house needs to be accessible and hardly any of it is at the moment.
This weekend I worked on Saturday and went grocery shopping. B mowed the lawn while I was at work. We watched some random TV and then Eddie Izzard's "Glorious" DVD. Funny stuff. I love that executive transvestite. Today, Crystal and her mom came over with lunch. We ate and then played Wii. After they went home I started dinner. Normally I don't mention what was had unless it was really good. Well, my White Chicken Chili was damn good. Of course it was 80degrees outside today and I planned chili, but it was still really yummy. My Redskins won today and B's Cowboys are on now and winning. It's more TV tonight and then the new shift continues tomorrow. I guess the upside is that I get to sleep in as long as Madison and Lilly let me.

Bailey on the rocks

My mom, stepdad and I went to see Ben Bailey at the FunnyBone last night and it was a great show. His standup is very funny even though it seemed as if he really didn't have much a set. He made fun of "Short Pump" but most of the comedians I've seen there have poked fun at that. He handled the hecklers very well, shutting up all of them. Afterward he was outside the club selling his CD and signing autographs. Since we're lacking funds I couldn't buy the CD, but he did sign my FunnyBone glass and allowed a picture to be taken with him. And here it is, straight from my camera phone:

The three of us had a really good time. I haven't been to the FB in a while and was glad to finally score some free tickets.
I got to make an observation today. Lately, I've been going to WalMart to grocery shop and I've been doing so straight from work on Friday nights to free up the weekend and so I don't drag my feet about going. Friday nights WalMart is full of well...trash, of the people kind. Color doesn't matter in regards to this trash. This morning there were a)less people b)a different/higher "class" of people. Not quite sure if it was the less people so the different class was more obvious or what, but it was interesting.
For those wondering, Madison is using her box again. Hooray! It took two days of B being at work, but we're all happy again.
Speaking of B working, the job is a bit rocky. It's a sales position, and even though it's base pay + commission, the hours worked are based on performance. B's never had a flat out sales job before now. He's been in retail and at JaniKing he did some sales, but only to current clients. But, we REALLY need the money, so I'm praying this works out for a little while or until he's got another job set up already.
Well, that's all for now. 7 days until Buffett '08 and 14 days until Richmond NASCAR. Keep your stick on the ice.

Jobbing for dogs

The second of B's interviews turned in a job! Hooray! I don't know the name of the company, but he's selling packages to people that have showed interest in them. Base pay plus commission. Hopefully this will work out for a while at least.
I'm still looking and sending out my resume. I got a call back from a pediatrics office and I called back and left a message but haven't heard anything back yet.
I'm still watching the Olympics. I don't have to be into work until the afternoon tomorrow (I'm covering for the evening girl who's on vacation), so I get to stay up and watch the Women's beach volleyball gold medal match. Right now the artistic gymnastics is on and B's in the other room watching Tv.
When I let Lilly out for her evening potty break she got out of the back yard. This makes the third time in about a week. She's never left the front yard and she's got her collar/tags on (plus the microchip). I can't figure out where she's getting out of the yard. And until then, she will no longer be taking unsupervised free run visits in the backyard. She hates being on her lead and will wrap herself around the trees, but I'd rather have to untangle her than go to the pound and pick her up there or worse!
In other pet news and probably a bit TMI, Madison isn't relieving herself in her litter box. She's chosen to still go upstairs but not into the box but on the carpet in the hallway. I haven't changed litters or bags and the box is the same one as always. Last time when Byron was out of work she stopped eating, so I hope this is the same thing (that her routine is out of whack). B just started the new job today and she still relieved herself on the carpet, but hopefully by the weekend she'll be using the box again. Bright side...I don't have to buy litter this week.
Tuesday I got an email from the Funnybone stating that Ben Bailey (the host of Discovery's Cash Cab) would be preforming there this weekend and if I called I could get free tickets. I did just that and coaxed my mom and stepdad into going with me. B doesn't want to go because he "doesn't know who he is". He's only watched Cash Cab twice, but I watch it on a semi-regular basis and am interested to see what kind of stand up he does. However, this leaves me with a free ticket available. You'll have to sit with me and the family (who is very much like me). So if you're interested, let me know. It's this Friday 8/22 at 7:30pm (be there at 6:30pm for seating).
Well, that's all for now...10 days until Buffett 08 and 17 until Richmond NASCAR. Keep your stick on the ice.

Clean Weekend

Well, last weekend I was to have gone to a Tweetup at Legend's, then that got switched to Triple and then it was figured out that we didn't have the money to go no matter where it was held. So instead we just had Crystal over for a spaghetti and meatball dinner and her and I played Lego Star Wars on the Wii for the rest of the night. Peach ice cream and strawberry margaritas were consumed and fun was had by all.
Sunday we went to the Carytown Watermelon Festival. What a hot mess that was! Years and years ago the last time I went there were plenty of people, but there was plenty of room to walk. Now they have the stands in the middle of the street and people stop to look at the items for sale and block the flow of traffic. We took Lilly and it was just too hot for her and too many people. We found out that she doesn't like watermelon. She took it in her mouth, but then spit it back. However she does love peaches.
Last week at work was mostly uneventful. They took away 98% of my internet. Pretty much the only sites I can use are Google Maps, weather.com and the website where we get our paycheck info. That made for a very boring Thursday and Friday. And will make for a very boring rest of my time there. I did have an interview with a company this week, but nothing will come of it. B's got two interviews this week, hopefully one of them will pan out...we will need the money. He didn't work at all this week.
We've been watching the Olympics most of the week. Phelps is amazing and I'm glad he was able to reach 8 gold medals. B's not that into the games and has been in the bedroom most of the weekend watching Smallville while I watch random games like badminton, water polo, weight lifting, table tennis and handball. What I really want to watch is beach volleyball, but what's on now is indoor volleyball.
Yesterday after not getting out of bed (other than to feed the furry ones) until almost 11am, we were eating breakfast when my mom called and wanted to borrow my truck and husband to move their old entertainment center to Goodwill. So after loading that into the back of the truck, we took her SUV to Petsmart and bought Lilly's anti-flea/tick/mosquito medicine and some styptic powder. We came home and I made some salsa for Sunday's dinner and then watched some Tv until we went back to Mom's for dinner and movie and more Olympics. We had steak, potatoes and corn on the cob and watched National Treasure 2. Dinner was good and the movie was ok, nice action but very Indiana Jones but not as cool. We came home and he watched more Smallville while I watched Phelps win gold #8, an interview with Phelps and then to bed at midnight.
I didn't get up until 8:30 this morning and by then poor Lilly's bladder was ready to explode and Madison thought she was going to waste away without breakfast. We sat around watching DVR'd TV for a while and watched some water polo. Lilly really needed a bath, so I brushed her and washed her bedding while she got a shower. She did well this time and smells so much better. I normally take her to Petsmart grooming for a nail trim and ear clean afterward, but that's just not in the budget right now. Her ears were clean so I just put some drying gel in there in case some water got in there during her bath and then proceeded to clip her nails for the first time. She did really well and so did I since I didn't cut the quick. Here are the before and after pictures:
Before:

After:

She just laid in my lap and let me cut them. The back paws were a little tougher, but I didn't have to cut as much off of them. She even let me file all her nails smooth. And she's not mad at or scared of me...she's laying on the floor next to me, sleeping, as I type this. Well, I guess that's it for now.
14 days til Buffett Concert 08 and 21 days till Richmond NASCAR. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.

Isn't it ironic?

Funny enough after I posted the last entry, I got called into my boss's office to tell me that it was obvious that I did not like my job, and if I wanted to move on, then I needed do to so, or step up the pace at work. listen

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At Work

I'm at work and trying not to work at the moment. It was nice this morning not having to get up early and go into work. Since I'm working on Saturday (boo!) I didn't have to come into work until 10am. I get to do that tomorrow also.
I love my podcasts, at this time my favs are We're Mean Because You're Stupid and Wasting Away on the North Coast. They have made me laugh either at lunch or on the way to work the past few days. And I have seriously needed that laughter. Work has not been fun. It's getting ready to pick up also. Aeration & Seeding season will be upon us next week. Yep, that's right we will start seeding customers next week. Gratefully we won't be starting full force, but we'll still be starting.
I've signed up for Jott this week and have used it couple of times on Twitter and once on Blogger (see below). I'm not sure how much I'll be using Jott especially with Blogger, but I guess time will tell.
Well, it's getting down to crunch time and I should actually get some work done around here. Until next time, keep your stick on the ice.